Mumbai: Swedish retailer IKEA, which recently announced Rs 10,500 crore investment in the country, on Wednesday said it is considering to create a new product range for the Indian customers. "May be we need to develop new functions and a product range which we don't have yet, for this market. Maybe we need to tweak the style but will never compromise with price. We will make affordable products," IKEA India Country Manager Juvencio Maeztu said at the India Retail Forum in Mumbai.
The Swedish home decor firm, the world's largest furniture maker, in June announced 1.5 billion euros (Rs 10,500 crore) investment in India. "We don't know yet what our plan is. There are many questions to be solved. Design is not a good friend of price and many times price is not a good friend of quality. It's extremely important for us to combine these three things together for our future here," he said, adding that the firm is still trying to understand the market.
However, the 69-year old global company is sure that it will hawk its products cheaply, something that the brand is well-known for. "We are obsessed with low prices," he said, adding that globally the company operates large format stores and will continue to do so here as well.
"India is an excellent place for us to develop a good product with our approach. Our goal is to have a long-term approach here and that too in a holistic way. Combining the trend and the sourcing, so we need time," he said.
IKEA had submitted a formal proposal to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board on June 23 to set up a 100 per cent subsidiary here, only the second retailer to do so after England-based footwear firm Pavers. It plans to open 25 stores
across various cities.
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